A Family of 4 Redefining the American Dream

Exploring In the Poconos and Delaware Water Gap

We’ve discovered many beautiful places on our trip up the eastern United States and along the way we’ve discovered the beauty of the Poconos Mountains and the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania.

The Old Mill at Sciota, PA

We love coming across water features on our drives. Rivers, lakes, and streams are always a big hit with us! We were driving home after visiting a local science center when we came acrossThe Old Mill at Sciota, PA. The Mill was built in the early 1700’s and is a tribute to great engineering and construction. The Mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

The Mill is a great educational opportunity to discuss the power of water for travel, industry, mechanical and hydroelectric power with Daniel and Nadia. The Poconos are full of surprises!

This wonderful steel truss bridge over McMichael Creek is closed to automobile traffic and is a good vantage point for viewing the Creek’s falls and the Mill. There was no worrying about traffic or other distractions. It was just us, the bridge, mill, and the creek!

Watch our Livestream Replay:

Delaware Water Gap in the Poconos

We stayed at Timothy Lake South RV Park a “Thousand Trails” RV park which is about 5 miles from the headquarters of the Delaware Water Gap. The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is 70,000 acres of hiking, watersports, rock climbing, nature watching and relaxation. Straddling the Delaware River, it is accessible from both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 28 miles of the Appalachian Trail pass through the Gap area as well. We had a great time on a waterfall hike with the kids!

In our usual get in the car at a moment’s notice so the kids don’t realize what’s happening fashion we headed to Park Headquarters on the Pennsylvania side near Bushkill conveniently near the Thousand Trails, Timothy Lake South RV Park where we were staying. An extremely friendly and knowledgeable National Park Service Volunteer with an epic Red Beard listened to our need for an easy kid friendly hike and recommended that we visit Dingmans Falls, a short 20 minute drive away.

The hike to Dingmans Falls took us past the enchantingSilver Thread Falls. It’s amazing to think about how many hundreds of thousands of years it has taken the water to cut through the sandstone blocks that make up this part of the Poconos.

Just a few minutes up the boardwalk you arrive at the photogenic Dingmans Falls, the second highest falls in Pennsylvania with a drop of 130 feet.

We read somewhere that it’s 240 steps up to the top of the falls, but it was a tiny bit farther than that. We could be wrong, but it’s well worth the climb up. Daniel, Jessica and I were able to get to the top without any problems. Nadia, as usual, asked to be carried. We were able to view beautiful Falls, and say we hiked a little bit in the Poconos! Next time, we’re going to hike a few miles of the Appalachian Trail!

There is still much for us to explore in this area and we’ll be headed back through Pennsylvania and New Jersey in a month or so, and we’ll be sure to spend more time in the beautiful landscape of the Poconos!

Watch our video and find out more about our trip to Pennsylvania and our recommendations for your next RV Trip to the area: